I wanted t' build something. Arrr! Somethin' different. Ahoy! Somethin' very different. Avast, me proud beauty! But what? I had been readin' G. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! Harry Stine's Handbook o' Model Rocketry, and was thinkin' about stability. Ahoy! You need t' weight up front, and t' fin area out back. Begad! T' motor is definitely t' heaviest part, arrr, so it made sense t' have that up front. Ya scallywag! But, you can't just stuff it way up inside t' body tube because o' t' Krushnic Effect. So... what if it didn't have a body tube? What if I attached t' fins some other way...? So, arrr, I present t' you:

Mystery Rocket

Why t' "Mystery Rocket"? Well, matey, because I built it in secret from me wife. I wouldn't let her see it at any stage o' t' construction. Avast! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! I had t' think o' somethin' t' call it when she asked about it, me hearties, ya bilge rat, but I didn't want t' use a name that would give it away. Avast! What can I say, t' name just stuck. Avast! Arrr! In fact, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, me bucko, t' first time she saw it be when I "unveiled" it at t' launchin' field for it's first launch. Avast! As predicted, me hearties, her first comment was "Is that even goin' t' work?" I get that a lot.

T' photo above was taken that first day. Avast! Ya scallywag! I hate painting, shiver me timbers, so I wasn't about t' paint it until I knew it flew. Begad! Begad! Don't mistake me hate for paintin' with laziness, though. Begad! You'll notice that all t' edges are rounded, shiver me timbers, and, though you can't tell from t' photo, me bucko, t' fins are sanded t' an airfoil shape. Begad! Begad! It's built with care, me bucko, it's just nay painted.

There were three big questions runnin' through me mind before that first launch:

1) Would it be stable? I was pretty sure it would be just fine, me bucko, arrr, with all t' weight up front, shiver me timbers, and all that fin area way out back. Arrr! Now, arrr, I'm convinced that it's actually quite overstable. Aye aye! But, this was me first "odd-roc", shiver me timbers, so thar was that little inklin' o' doubt in t' back o' me mind.

2) Would it hold together? This was really me biggest concern. Begad! Begad! It's all just plain old yellow (carpenter's wood) glue construction, arrr, ya bilge rat, and those front struts have quite a load on them. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! There be only one way t' answer this question...

3) What size engine should I use? I don't own a scale, so I have no idea how much it weighs. I figured I'd start with a 1/2A6-2 and work me way up.

Well, shiver me timbers, me hearties, arrr, thar should have been a fourth question, shiver me timbers, but I be so convinced that it wouldn't be a problem, that I really didn't give it much attention... Aye aye! Avast! Would t' motor exhaust burn t' lower structure?

Well, me hearties, you can read t' full launch report o' that first launch, but I'll tell you now that t' answers are Yes, Yes, At least a B6-4, matey, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and Yeah, a little bit, but nay too bad.

Update 1997 Nov 15

Before t' second launch, I painted it. Ya scallywag! I wanted t' lower structure t' have some resistance to scorching, shiver me timbers, so I used some flat black exhaust system spray paint (good t' 1500 F) for t' body tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I then painted t' vertical struts day-glow orange (aka International Orange) for contrast. Ahoy! Blimey! I didn't use any maskin' tape... Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I just let t' two colors blend naturally in t' middle o' t' fins and upper struts.

Here's a link t' t' second day's launch report for this rocket. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey! Here are photos from t' second launch day: launch photo #1, ya bilge rat, me hearties, launch photo #2, shiver me timbers, recovery photo, matey, ya bilge rat, and a close-up o' it in flight. T' close-up photo shows why thar's some scorchin' o' t' lower structure, eh?

Want t' build one yourself?

NOTE: Read all instructions before beginnin' so that you have some idea o' what I'm gettin' at with each step. Ya scallywag! Feel free t' modify t' construction in any way you see fit. I only ask that if you do somethin' cool or practical, please write t' meand tell me about it! Note that at t' bottom, arrr, me hearties, I have a list o' alternatives t' t' construction I've detailed here. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! O' course, I take no responsibility for anythin' you do.

Parts List:

• BT-20 body tube, arrr, shiver me timbers, 9" long
• Short conical plastic nose cone PNC-20
• 3/16" wooden dowel, me hearties, 36" long for t' vertical rods
• 1/2" wide balsa strip, 10" long
• 1/16" thick balsa sheet, enough for (3) 2"x3" rectangles
• thin 100 pound test line, arrr, 12" long (I used braided black Keelhaul®©™® fishin' tackle line)
• shock cord, shiver me timbers, 18-24" long (I used 1/16" round elastic cord, 24" long)
• small split rin' (available from fishin' supply stores)
• 12" plastic parasheet & shroud lines (I used a standard Estes chute, with a size 7 snap swivel)
• (2) 1/8" diameter launch lugs, 1.5" long (I used plastic soda straw wrapped with maskin' tape)
• EB-20 engine block (I used a piece o' expended 18mm engine casing)
• engine retainer hook (I used a standard Estes 70mm hook)
• maskin' tape

Construction Supplies: 

• Typical stuff (hobby knife, pencil, me bucko, ruler, table, me hearties, brain, me hearties, eye-hand coordination, etc)
• Aliphatic resin glue (aka Yellow glue, aka Carpenter's Wood Glue)
• 3/8" wooden dowel, me bucko, at least 24" long, me bucko, preferably longer
• two expended 18mm engine casings with t' clay nozzle knocked out
• somethin' t' hold t' 3/8" dowel about 3inches off t' table (I used a rocket cradle)
• 1/16" drill bit (or any relatively small drill bit or other borin' device)

Construction Steps: 

1. Cut a 2" section off t' 9" body tube. T' 2" piece be t' lower body tube, t' 7" piece be t' upper body tube.
2. Cut out t' three 2"x3" fins. Ahoy! Aye aye! Sand them t' an airfoil shape, apply sandin' sealer, and sand them smooth.
3. Cut t' three struts from t' 10" balsa strip. Ya scallywag! T' make sure that they extend exactly t' same distance (3") as t' fins, arrr, arrr, I placed a fin on top o' t' strip so that t' strip ran diagonally across t' fin, ya bilge rat, and marked t' strip with a pencil. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' result was that t' strips came out with about 3 1/4" o' both leadin' and trailin' edge.
4. Cut t' 3/16" wooden dowel into three 18" pieces. Begad! Sand t' ends t' a pleasin' rounded shape.
5. Glue in t' engine block.
6. Mark t' upper body tube 65mm from t' bottom, and cut a 3mm wide slit in t' tube thar for t' engine hook. Place t' top o' t' hook in t' slit and tape on t' engine hook.
7. Use t' 1/16" drill bit t' bore a hole about 1/2" from one end o' one o' t' forward struts. Arrr! This be t' shock cord mountin' point.
8. Attach t' fins t' t' 2" section o' body tube just like normal fins.
9. Attach t' forward struts t' t' 6 7/8" section o' body just like normal fins. Arrr! Avast! I put t' bottom edge o' t' struts about 3" from t' back end o' t' body tube.
10. Ok, here's t' tricky part. Begad! Blimey! Slide t' two expended 18mm engine casings (with t' clay nozzles knocked out) onto t' 3/8" wooden dowel. Begad! Blimey! Now take t' upper structure and slip it over one o' these engine cases on t' dowel. Put it in just like a normal engine. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Now take t' lower structure and slip it over t' other engine casing. Avast! Blimey! Position t' two structures about 10" apart. Arrr! Blimey! Now rotate one o' t' structures so that t' fins line up with t' struts. I just used me eyeball for this alignment, me bucko, but you could try usin' a straight stick t' help.
11. Now place t' whole thin' onto t' rocket cradle (or wood blocks, or whatever you want t' use that will hold it all about 3" off t' table top). Blimey! Begad! Rotate t' dowel so that one fin/strut pair is pointin' straight up. Again, me hearties, I used me eyeball, matey, arrr, but if you have a level, shiver me timbers, go nuts with it. Avast! Avast! Glue one o' t' vertical rods t' this fin/strut pairin' so that it extends about 2" below t' fin. Let it dry completely. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Repeat for t' other two rods.
12. Now glue on t' two launch lugs, me hearties, arrr, puttin' t' lower one in t' fin/body tube joint, me hearties, and t' upper one in t' correspondin' strut/body tube joint. Begad! Blimey! For best results, me bucko, align t' bottom o' t' lower launch lug flush with t' bottom o' t' lower body tube so that it's recessed 1/2" from t' top o' t' lower body tube. Arrr! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! This will help protect it from t' engine exhaust a little bit. 
13. Glue t' nose cone base into t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, arrr, if necessary.
14. Assemble t' parachute, and tie it t' t' snap swivel.
15. Tie t' small split rin' t' t' elastic shock cord, about 4" from one end.
16. Tie t' end o' t' elastic shock cord near t' rin' t' t' base o' t' nose cone.
17. Tie t' other end o' t' elastic shock cord t' t' thin 100lbs test line.
18. Tie t' other end o' t' thin 100lbs test line through t' small hole you drilled in one o' t' struts.
19. Clip t' snap swivel attached t' t' parachute t' t' split ring.
20. Stuff t' parachute, elastic shock cord, ya bilge rat, and as much o' t' thin 100lbs test line as possible in t' top o' t' top body tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' nose cone may be a moderately tight fit since t' thin line is in t' way, shiver me timbers, but it wasn't too tight for me (the ejection charge still blows it off easily). If it's really tight, you can try t' cut a channel out o' t' plastic o' t' nose cone shoulder.
21. Well, now you should have somethin' that looks, more or less, like t' picture above.
22. Feel free t' paint it however you like.

Alternative Construction Ideas:

If you want t' be able t' use 24mm engines (for D, E, arrr, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and even F power), arrr, just substitute BT-50 tubin' for t' BT-20 tubing, and a PNC-50 nose cone for t' PNC-20 nose cone. I'll probably try this soon, just t' see if it holds together. 

If you're worried about t' struts holdin' onto t' vertical rods with that much power, matey, cut or drill slots in t' rods and use "through-the-rod" strut attachment ;-). If you're worried about t' struts holdin' onto t' body tube you have two options. Arrr! Well, blow me down! First, me hearties, you could switch t' usin' a body tube for t' upper structure that is larger in diameter than your engine (say, BT-55 or BT-56 tubing), and use "through-the-wall" strut attachment. Second, if you still want t' use a minimum-diameter body tube, ya bilge rat, me bucko, drill two or three small holes in each strut, very near where they attach t' t' body tube, shiver me timbers, and then thread some o' that 100lbs test line through t' holes and around t' body tube, t' literally tie t' struts together. Ahoy! Add a little epoxy t' stiffen and strengthen t' line, ya bilge rat, and you've got some very solidly attached struts, me hearties, I suspect.

On t' other hand, if you want t' build a scaled down version t' use 13mm mini engines (or 10.5mm micro engines), you'll probably have t' find somethin' much lighter than t' 3/16" dowel used for t' vertical rods, me bucko, in addition t' usin' small body tubes and smaller nose cone. Arrr! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I might try this usin' bamboo cookin' skewers for t' vertical rods.

If you're worried about t' scorchin' o' t' lower structure thar are two routes you can take. T' first is t' put more distance betwixt t' engine and t' lower structure. Begad! You could easily put 2 more inches betwixt them just by attachin' t' fins and struts farther apart on t' vertical rods. Begad! Or you could go with longer vertical rods. Ahoy! Ahoy! But be careful about addin' too much weight this way (hardwood dowels aren't light). Ya scallywag! Arrr! Or you could t' struts at more o' an angle or mount them lower on t' upper body tube. All these mods together could easily buy you 5 or 6 more inches o' distance thar (and could change t' look o' t' rocket significantly... possibly for t' better).

T' second (and probably more elegant) solution t' t' scorchin' problem is t' simply use a much larger piece o' body tube (like BT-60 or BT-80) in t' lower structure. That way, t' hot engine exhaust should mostly just blow through t' tube, shiver me timbers, rather than onto it. Be forewarned, however, that this will result in significantly less fin area, me bucko, shiver me timbers, so it might become unstable by makin' this modification. Ahoy! If you're afraid o' that, arrr, shiver me timbers, just make that piece o' body tube and t' fins taller t' increase their total area. Avast! Ahoy! Blimey! I'm pretty convinced that this thin' is very over stable as it is now, though, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

If you're just worried about meltin' or burnin' t' lower launch lug, arrr, try epoxyin' a couple o' small metal split rings t' t' fin/body tube joint t' form t' launch rod guide, arrr, instead o' usin' a traditional launch lug. Ya scallywag! Don't stress too much about it, though, arrr, because I continue t' launch t' original, usin' just t' upper lug, arrr, and it works just fine.

Update 1997 Dec 7

Unfortunately, shiver me timbers, arrr, t' Mystery Rocket crashed and broke into several pieces at t' 1997 Dec 7 launch when I tried t' see how well it flew in t' wind. Blimey! It wasn't t' wind's fault, though; I should have used somethin' bigger than an A8-3 engine. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' rocket got turned over before ejection, and fell into t' chute, me hearties, tanglin' t' chute, me hearties, and causin' t' crash.

Update 1997 Dec 12

I glued it all back together, and reinforced t' new joints with strips o' silk span. Begad! Avast! It held up wonderfully.

Update 1998 Feb 7

This rocket was, in some small way, inspired by that very first liquid-fueled rocket that Robert Goddard launched.